How we calculate

Melt value

Melt value is the worth of the pure metal in your piece:

weight (g) × purity × price of pure metal per gram

Purity comes from the hallmark: 10K is 41.7% gold, 14K is 58.5%, 18K is 75%, 22K is 91.6%, 24K is 99.9%. Sterling silver is 92.5%, and US coin silver is 90%. The gold and silver price comes from the GoldAPI market feed and is refreshed every business day.

What each buyer pays

• reDollar publishes its buy price per gram for each karat on redollar.com. We read it daily and multiply by your weight.
• The Alloy Market’s scrap gold calculator estimates 70% of melt value. We use that share.
• Local jewelers and pawn shops don’t publish prices. We show the ranges they typically pay: 55–75% and 35–60% of melt value.

US Gold Buyers and Express Gold Cash don’t publish a price per gram. They state the share of market price they pay (US Gold Buyers: up to 98.5% for gold, 85% for silver; Express Gold Cash: up to 90% for jewelry, 98% for bullion). We use those figures. Their final offer comes after testing, and both return your items free if you decline.

Coins and bars

When the photo shows a common 1 oz bullion coin or bar, we also compare Kitco, which posts what it pays for each coin. Bullion dealers usually pay 95–99% of the metal value for these, much more than a scrap buyer.

Photo reading

An AI vision model reads the hallmark, names the item and estimates its weight from size cues in the photo. Weight from a photo is an estimate, so we show it as a range. A kitchen scale gives the exact number.

Limits

Every figure here is an estimate. Final offers depend on each buyer’s testing, fees and the day’s price. Stones, enamel and plating aren’t gold and lower what a buyer pays.